Voice of the people (letter).

Working Together For School Safety

June 27, 1999|By Sen. Terry Link, (D-Vernon Hills).

SPRINGFIELD — This past year we have witnessed a number of tragedies unfold in our nation's schools. As a society we appear to be handcuffed in dealing with this violence by blindly stumbling from one experiment to another in well-meaning hopes of solutions. But part of the problem is the lack of sustained efforts to end the proliferation of weapons and improve communication between legislators and citizens in local communities.

In the aftermath of the Columbine High School slaughter in Littleton, Colo., and a near tragedy in Georgia we again heard the combined outrage and demands for solution by teachers, students and parents from all areas of Illinois. This same outrage and demands for action were expressed in city halls, state capitals and in the nation's Congress.

My concern is that as the initial shock wears off, the public pressure for legislative initiatives will wane until the nation is put through another mindless massacre and the process of seeking answers resumes once again. This bouncing from one tragedy to the next without effective action is frustrating to legislators, as well as the community at large, and creates a certain amount of cynicism among students."

Far too often suburban parents and school administrators are complacent and consider school violence or random shootings as confined to the inner city and comfort themselves with an "it can't happen here" attitude. This is no longer true. In recent town hall meetings that I hosted, along with State Rep. Susan Garrett (D-Lake Forest), school administrators, law enforcement officials, civic leaders and parents agreed that the problem goes beyond racial, cultural and financial considerations. Those who attended our town meetings overwhelmingly agreed that school safety is a concern for all parents.

One of the most striking comments at our Lake Forest High School meeting came from Michael Kotner, a school safety specialist with the Illinois State Board of Education who asserted that "weekend violence on the streets can carry over to Monday's classrooms." Many teachers not only in the inner city but in the suburbs feel they are at risk. It should be noted that students share in these fears.

Mary Halpin, a clinical psychologist from Deerfield who spoke at our meeting, warned that a student poll by the youth-oriented MTV music channel showed that 92 percent of students polled believe school violence is a serious problem, and at least 10 percent were aware of students who had brought guns into schools.

Gov. George Ryan does deserve credit for signing the $13.9 million school security grant legislation passed by the General Assembly (News, June 5). But we should not be lulled into a false sense of security for our children. Money alone will not solve our problems. I believe it is critical that bipartisan legislation or administrative remedies be forged through a combination of community input and legislative initiatives.

I believe we must continue to push for legislation that will limit the number of guns purchased by an individual to one a month. But along with creating new laws like this, we must enforce those that are on the books. We must continue to work with parents, teachers and local officials to come up with realistic and meaningful reforms.